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Weird Rainbow shark behavior ?

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My albino rainbow shark has been mimicking my alage eater on how it always sucks on the walls of the tank, kinda strange not seeing him swimming all the time just mimicking the algae eater and staying close to him. Should i be worried ??

My albino rainbow shark has been mimicking my alage eater on how it always sucks on the walls of the tank, kinda strange not seeing him swimming all the time just mimicking the algae eater and staying close to him. Should i be worried ??

Quick question, Is it in this tank?

Originally Posted by from Your profile

10 Gal. Tank 3 African Cichlids 3 Guppies 1 Algae Eater

Gas mileage isn't everythingOIIIIIIIOLack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.Why pretend there are no stupid questions? Actually, There are many stupid questions: "Should I drink this bleach?" Is just one example.
Having said that, Just because it's a stupid question doesn't mean that it shouldn't be asked. It's better to know.A warm beer is better than a cold beer. Because nothing is better than a cold beer, and a warm beer is better than nothing.

You don't have enough tank for a mature rainbow shark. A 4' long 55g would be a minimum since they are really active swimmers that can get upwards of 6" and also be territorial when mature.

This isn't a very good fit for your tank I'm afraid.

Gas mileage isn't everythingOIIIIIIIOLack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.Why pretend there are no stupid questions? Actually, There are many stupid questions: "Should I drink this bleach?" Is just one example.
Having said that, Just because it's a stupid question doesn't mean that it shouldn't be asked. It's better to know.A warm beer is better than a cold beer. Because nothing is better than a cold beer, and a warm beer is better than nothing.

I don't know what to tell you about his algae eater impersonation, Is he new to the tank? Some exploring is natural if that's the case but it doesn't even sound like that typical behvaviour.

All in all, If he is eating fine I would keep an eye on him but I wouldn't be TOO concerned about it.. Some fish are weird :-P.

Gas mileage isn't everythingOIIIIIIIOLack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.Why pretend there are no stupid questions? Actually, There are many stupid questions: "Should I drink this bleach?" Is just one example.
Having said that, Just because it's a stupid question doesn't mean that it shouldn't be asked. It's better to know.A warm beer is better than a cold beer. Because nothing is better than a cold beer, and a warm beer is better than nothing.

I'm curious about this too my Red tail shark (sometimes sold as a rainbow shark) does the same exact thing. I will catch him sucking on the side of the tank or upside down sucking on rocks in his cave.

I thought they were more about patrolling the tank. Could this just be juvie behavior? Mine is still small.

I thought they were more about patrolling the tank. Could this just be juvie behavior? Mine is still small.

That would be my guess but I only ever had a juvie one years ago in a 40B with my big Oscar [as a baby], Mine was a little instigator from the word go. When I swapped the tank for a bigger one the RTS went with it because he wouldn't stop challenging the O but the Os growth obviously outpaced him and it would have ended badly.

I have never really been interested in them since.

Gas mileage isn't everythingOIIIIIIIOLack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.Why pretend there are no stupid questions? Actually, There are many stupid questions: "Should I drink this bleach?" Is just one example.
Having said that, Just because it's a stupid question doesn't mean that it shouldn't be asked. It's better to know.A warm beer is better than a cold beer. Because nothing is better than a cold beer, and a warm beer is better than nothing.

When I first got him, he did a lot of patrolling and active swimming, I added some drift wood to the tank and overnight he became very aggressive about the drift wood. He would chase everything out of there except tetras and cories. Then I adjusted the driftwood so that it sat at a different angle...and its like he got depressed. He literally started moping around the tank, hiding a lot, not chasing anything at all, not patrolling much. He has been that way ever since.

He used to be visible most of he time out in the open and now he spends his days hiding in the fake stump or behind the filter. Very disappointing.